The history of Adams County Illinois : containing a history of the county - its cities, towns, etc. a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion; general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, Part 140

Author:
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : Murray, Williamson & Phelps
Number of Pages: 1254

USA > Illinois > Adams County > The history of Adams County Illinois : containing a history of the county - its cities, towns, etc. a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion; general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 140

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CONCLUSION.

southern North America. The "mound builders" in time were swept from the land by the modern Indian, whose centuries of existence, even before the withering presence of the white man premonished his extermination, have been marked by no solitary evidence of advancement. That the Indian built none of these mounds, except those on the heights, before mentioned, is almost sure; that they have made use of those built by their predecessors, is equally certain; and that most of these mounds were houses or forts, is more than probable, but the idea is not a new one.

SWAMP AND OVERFLOWED LANDS.

Adams county contains 25,062 acres of these low lands-chiefly in this instance such tracts as are liable to inundation by the Mississippi river in time of high water. They embrace a large per cent of the immense bot- toms bordering its banks, varying in width from a few rods to half a dozen miles. Of these swamp and overflowed lands, hitherto considered compar- atively valueless, Adams perhaps includes a greater scope than any other county in the State. In 1850 Congress passed a law entitled "An act to enable the State of Arkansas and other States to reclaim the swamp lands within their limits," approved September 28, 1850, by virtue of which these tracts became the property of the several States in which they lie; and by an act passed by the Legislature of Illinois and approved June 22, 1852, these lands were ceded to the various counties in which they were situated.

The Board of Supervisors of Adams county took steps that same year to bring them into market. F. C. Walker was appointed by the court, Drainage Commissioner, and instructed to survey and plat them, which he did; and his report of the same was considered and accepted by the Board of Supervisors at their meeting in February, 1854. At that meeting a committee consisting of Chairman, William Laughlin, J. F. Battell, S. W. Garner, J. P. Robbins, and Eli Seehorn, was chosen to appraise and fix a value on each tract, marking the price in figures on the plat. The com- mittee discharged this imposed duty at the same session. Their report was approved by the Board; and Commissioner Walker was ordered to offer the lands for sale at public auction at the door of the Court-house on the 4th of December, 1854. Only a part of the lands were disposed of at that sale, and on the 3d of December, 1855, another public auction was had. The prices paid were nominal, as good lands were then worth much less than now, and a considerable portion of the so-called swamp lands were then thought to be irreclaimable. The tracts remaining unsold after these public vendues were afterward disposed of by private sale; so that the property has all, or nearly all, passed into private hands.

At a session of the Board of Supervisors, on September 12, 1856, a resolution was passed ordering the net proceeds of the sales of the swamp and overflowed lands to be applied toward the purchase and improvement of a farm to be used for the support of the indigent poor of Adams county.

Many enterprising farmers in these border counties have come in possession of these once worthless and malaria-breeding tracts, forecasting with prophetic vision their immense prospective agricultural importance, and are making vigorous efforts to reclaim and improve them, by drainage and leveeing. Already the precursory bud of promise augurs a rich fruitage to compensate the energies put forth, in the way of a partial protection by levee to the thousands of acres of waving green and gold, beckoning the

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HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY.

harvester's sickle, and in the enactment of the recent amendatory drainage law passed by the General Assembly, authorizing a tax to be voted which will eventuate in a complete drainage, and protection by levee, thus con- verting, in the near future, those many square miles of infectious wilderness into a teeming, blossoming garden of prosperity. The soil, which is usu- ally several feet in depth, is an alluvial composition of vegetable and min- eral mold, with a preponderance of the former, and is practically inex- hanstible. Every overflow for untold centuries had left its fertilizing de- posit, and will continue to do so until the levee is built above high water mark; and each year the washings of the rich bluff farms contribute broad- cast their floods of liquid manure over the smiling fields below.

THE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT.

Elsewhere in this volume proud mention is made of the existence and glorious work performed by those organizations of the patriotie women of Adams county, known as the " Needle Pickets," and "Sisters of the Good Samaritan," during the late civil war. How those grand women-of the upper stratum, society-with hearts consuming with love of country and sympathy for its suffering defenders, stepped forward in eager response to the appeals from hospitals and tented fields of carnage for aid, and in solid phalanx planned and labored and toiled unceasingly and without stint, giving amateur theatrical entertainments, old folks' parties, sanitary fairs, oyster suppers, ice-cream and strawberry festivals; and how they took Gov- ernment contracts to furnish sanitary stores, realizing therefrom, by careful management and hard work, generous profits which were applied to the cause; how they pressed into the service tobacco factories, furniture factories, and Methodist seminaries, converting them into hospitals for the sick and mangled soldiers, having as many as five large hospitals in Quincy at one time, where thousands of the poor boys in blue were provided for and nursed with motherly and sisterly solicitude and tenderness; and how, beside their multifarious duties in caring for these hospitals at home, they manufactured clothing and solicited and purchased thousands of dollars worth of supplies and forwarded them to the front, need not be discussed at length here. Let it suffice that after all this expenditure of money during the years of the war at its close a fund of several thousand dollars was left in the treasury of the "Sisters of the Good Samaritan Society." After using a portion of it for the relief of soldiers' needy families, it was resolved by the unanimous voice of the society that having done what it could for the living patriots it would now make an effort to commemorate the honors of the dead heroes. To this end it was voted to expend the rest of the funds of the society in erecting a soldiers' monument in the beautiful Woodland Cemetery, situated on the bluff in the southwestern part of the city of Quiney. The society, as had been its wont, at once reduced resolution to action, and making its wish known to Mr. C. G. Volk, of Quiney, an artist and architect of national celebrity, he furnished a design which was accepted and a contraet made with him to execute and ereet the monument. It was " consecrated, A. D., 1867, by the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, in duty, affection and reverence, to the memory of the faithful soldiers of Adams county, who gave their lives that the nation might live." A grand parade of civilians and military took place, directed by General John Tillson, as Marshal of the day. Appropriate addresses

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CONCLUSION.

were made by Gen. B. M. Prentiss, Gen. John Tillson, and Col. M. M. Bane.

The United States National Military Cemetery of Quincy, was estab- lished in 1868. Four monuments (cannons) were placed in position in 1874. Interments, 242; known 236, unknown 6.

The monument stands on the highest point on the crest of the bluff overlooking a magnificent landscape of many miles of the Mississippi and its environs, as it rolls along oceanward with majestic sweep and quiet dignity, two hundred feet below its base. An antique mound, the burial place of some prehistoric hero of ruder race, some six feet in height, a beautiful flattened cone, forms the basis upon which the marble pile rests. The base of the monument is of Joliet stone, of a light drab color. The shaft is of the finest white Vermont marble, from the Rutland quarries; is twenty- eight feet in height, crowned with an exquisitely wrought figure of the American eagle, with wings partially spread, and looking to the east and south over a preserved Union. The cost of construction of the monument was $3,000, exclusive of the iron railing, set in stone base, which surrounds it. Toward these becoming environments ex-Governor John Wood, with his characteristic magnanimity, contributed a considerable sum.

The original intention was to have engraved upon the monument the name of every soldier who lost his life in the service from Adams county, but finding it impossible to procure a complete list of them, the plan has not been carried into effect.

THE COUNTY POOR.

Very early in the history of Adams county the benevolence of its pioneer citizens began to be manifest in the provisions made for the in- digent and deserving poor within its borders. At first, and for a number of years, the panpers were provided for in the several localities where they resided. In the year 1847, the Board of County Commissioners deemed it advisable, as a matter of economy to the county, and for the better pro- vision for these unfortunate objects of public charity, to purchase a farmn to be devoted to their support, to which they could be removed and cared for in a body, and where those not entirely disabled might be furnished some employment, and thus in a measure become self-supporting. Consequently, after some investigation, the Board bought the 80 acre farm owned by H. T. Ellis, parts of the northwest and the northeast quarters of section 16, of township 1 north, and 7 west, lying near the center of Honey Creek, the transfer bearing date March 16, 1847, and the consideration being $700. The farm was under a fair state of improvement, and had a two-story frame house containing several rooms and a shed kitchen. A barn and other out-buildings, and a blacksmith shop were on the premises.

The farm was under the supervision of a competent man, and the paupers were removed to it and were sustained there until May, 1855, when by order of the Board of Supervisors-the county having gone into township organization in 1849-the county poor farm was sold to John White for $800, the Board reserving the use of the farm until the next year.

At a session of the County Board of Supervisors, held January 5, 1856, it was resolved to purchase about 200 acres of land for a poor farm, and a committee consisting of Wm. Laughlin, A. H. Doan and Baptist Hardy was appointed to select and make the purchase. On June 10th the Com-

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HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY.

mittee reported to the Board that they had bought of John F. Battell 160 acres, the northeast quarter of section 11, in Gilmer township, for $5,000. The committee also reported at the same meeting the purchase of 50,000 brick and other material with which to erect buildings thereon. The fol- lowing year, 1857, the farm was rented out and the paupers were hired, kept by contract at a specified price per capita per week. Upon the com- pletion of the buildings the paupers were removed to the county farm, where they have been provided for since.

In 1874, the city of Quincy went into township organization, prior to which time the paupers of the city had been under the charge of municipal officers, one Alderman from each ward constituting the pauper committee, to which was added an overseer of the poor. Since 1874 the county has had charge of its pauper expenses, the same as the other townships of the county. The adoption of the Quincy poor so increased the number of county dependents that the buildings on the farm were insufficient, and it became necessary to provide for them elsewhere. Accordingly, an agreement was made with the Charitable Aid and Hospital Association of Quincy to keep them during ten months, from July 1, 1874, to May 1, 1875, for $8,000, and 200 cords of wood; and for a year, beginning May 1, 1875, for a sum not to exceed $12,000, the sum actually expended being $10,400. During the latter year there were upon the books of the Association an average of 314 persons per month, representing 226 families.

A committee of the Board of Supervisors having been created and in- structed to examine and report a plan for a new building to be erected on the County poor farm, it handed in its report at the July session of 1875, recommending that a building three stories high, 32 by 43 feet area, be built, at a cost of about $8,000. The report was approved and steps taken at once for its construction. It was finished in December, 1875, at a cost of $7,968. The building committee were Thomas Bailey, William Winkel- man, E. H. Turner, David Sheer, and Joseph B. Weaver. A steam heater was afterward put in to warm the buildings, at a cost of $1,290.

The last report of the Superintendent of the county poor farm, as ex- hibited upon the records, shows the number of persons provided for to be an average of 83 per week. One hundred and seventy different persons were inmates of the County-house during the year, 97 of whom were there at the time the report was made out. The average cost per head of keeping them, less the income from the farm, was 86 cents per week March 1, 1878, and 67 cents a week for the year ending March 1, 1879. The farm is shown to be in a good state of cultivation and well managed. The estimated value of the entire pauper property owned by the county, including two small pieces of timber on other sections, is $25,000.

Each of the townships in the county and also the city of Quincy is expected to look after the needs of its resident paupers, to keep an accurate account of the expense thereof and report the same to the County Board of Supervisors a committee of whom audits them, and when approved they are paid out of the county fund. The footings of these accounts show the aggregate expenditure for the poor from March 1, 1877, to March 1, 1878, to be $23,729.72, and from March 1, 1878, to March 1, 1879, to be $24,- 883.37.

Of course, the greater proportion of the pauper expenses are incurred for the city poor, notwithstanding the utmost economy consistent with the faithful discharge of his unenviable position is exercised by Mr. Michael

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CONCLUSION.

Farrell, the efficient Supervisor at large for the present and past two years. The register reports the total cost of the city paupers for the year ending March 1, 1878, to be $14,602.58, and the year ending March 1, 1879, at $15,487.61. But these figures exceed the actual expenditures for the city's resident poor by the amounts paid for feeding transient paupers and for railroad passes to transport them to more congenial climes-for the county. The sick paupers of the city are sent either to St. Francis, or the Blessing Hospital, as they or their friends prefer.

From the perusal of this brief sketch, it will be observed that the tax- payers of Adams county bear their full share of the burden in feeding the hungry and clothing the naked.

TEMPERANCE.

The first temperance society in Adams county was organized in 1830, with twelve members.

The Red Ribbon temperance movement was started in the city of Quincy, Illinois, during the month of December, 1877, under the management of J. C. Bonticou, a temperance worker of more than ordinary energy and abil- ity, who was induced to come here and commence the temperance work through the instrumentality of the Ladies' Christian Temperance Union.

The first of the red ribbon meetings were held in the old Court-house, which soon became too small. A large hall was then secured on 4th street, and the meetings continued nearly three weeks, with the most grati- fying results. Fifteen hundred men signed the pledge and put on the red ribbon, and about one thousand women and children, who put on the white and blue ribbons, the women wearing the white ribbon and the boys the blue. In the month of January, 1878, Mr. Bonticou organized the Quincy Reform Club and finished his work in this place. The club, as or- ganized and put in motion by Mr. Bonticon, consisted of abont eight hun- dred men. The Red Ribbon Club then rented a three-story brick building; also a large hall in the adjoining building, situated on Maine street, in the business part of the city, and opened a temperance club house, with a pub- lic reading room, a hall for business and public meetings, and a game and smoking room; the latter room being a place of amusement for the boys who had been in the habit of spending their time in the saloons, gambling hells and dens of the city, of which class of boys there were a large number belonging to the club. This game and smoking room was a thorn in the side of some of the religious people, but it was conducted on as moral a plan as it is possible to conduct such a place, no gambling, drinking, or profanity being allowed in or about the place.

The expense of this club house and the other necessary expenses of the club amounted to $225 per month, which were, owing to mistakes, mis- management and incompetency on the part of some of the officers and members of the club, very much larger than they should have been.

During the summer of 1878 the Red Ribbon Club found themselves in a very discouraging condition financially, and turned the reading room over to the ladies of the White Ribbon Club, who, during the summer and fall, organized a library association, for the purpose of conducting the reading room, which they have conducted successfully, and at the present time have the "Free Reading Room," as it is called, located at the corner of 6th and Vermont streets, in a fine new three-story building, which they occupy in

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HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY.

company with the Quincy Library. The room occupied by the reading room and Quincy Library is one hundred feet long by fifty feet wide, and is well filled with papers and books, and is an ornament to the city, of which not only the temperance people, but all our citizens, are justly proud. In the spring of 1879, Messrs. Palmer and Ardron, two temperance workers from New York City, came here and conducted a series of temper- ance meetings, with great snecess, several hundred men, women and chil- dren signing the pledge under their management.

It would be difficult to estimate the amount of good that has been done by the Red Ribbon Club in this community, and it will probably never be fully known.

There are at least one hundred men in this city who were drinking men when they signed the red ribbon temperance pledge, who have kept their pledge and are to-day an honor to themselves, their families and to the community.

Outside the city, all through the county, the ribbon clubs have been formed, some of them being blue and some red ribbon clubs, and to the best of my knowledge there is not a village in the county but that has since had either a red or blue ribbon club, and in many of the school dis- tricts temperance clubs have also been formed.

There are some villages in the county where, since the temperance clubs have been started, the saloon keepers have been compelled to quit their business of selling liqnor, and either try something else or go where the temperance sentiment was not so strong.

EDUCATIONAL.

The first school in Adams county was taught in Quincy, in 1827, by a Presbyterian elergyman named Jabez Porter, a native of Plymouth, Mass. As time advanced and the various portions of the county were settled, the paramount importance of schools was not lost sight of by the pioneers; and while opening up their farms and erecting their rude habitations, the log school house-the nuclens of civilization-arose among each group of cab- ins in all its primeval dignity. During the early years of the school his- tory of Adams county the standard of the district schools here, as in all other new counties, was of a low order. 'The book knowledge of the pio- neer pedagogue was usually limited to the three " R's," and his general information meager; while the poorly-lighted and badly-heated, round-log school house, with its rough puncheon floor and benches of the same ma- terial, was not the most propitions combination of circumstances for the frontier youth to procure an education. Yet under these disadvantages have, in numerous instances, been kindled aspirations, and aroused into a sleepless activity the innate germ of a giant manhood, which has written in characters immutable the name of its possessor upon the hearts of a grateful people.

Gradually the educational standard of teachers and facilities for impart- ing instruction improved, keeping abreast of the times, until now Adams county has as many and as high a grade of schools as almost any county in the State. In the city of Quincy are nine graded and one high school, all of the highest order, while Camp Point justly boasts of one of the finest public schools in the West, with an extended course, denominated the Ma- plewood High School, under the very efficient supervision of Prof. S. F.

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CONCLUSION.

Hall, who has no superior in that branch of the educational field -in Illi- nois, if anywhere. Payson, Clayton and Mendon also have each a well conducted graded school in neat, ample and well-arranged school edifices. The country schools are of the best class of public schools.

COLLEGES AND CIIURCH SCHOOLS.

Quincy may indeed be regarded as an educational center of no little im- portance, when in addition to the facilities for teaching the young, which the public schools afford, the advantages of a thorough scholastic course are offered at the other institutions of learning which are to be found in that city. Its colleges are already on a permanent footing, and the church schools under the management of the Roman Catholics are among the best in the western country. The Catholics have laid the foundation for mak- ing the city one of the most important points in the Mississippi Valley, so far as education under church control is concerned, and, in fact, the schools they have inaugurated in Quincy are already bearing a wide reputation, and attracting notice throughout the country for their general excellence. Some facts concerning them and the institutions under collegiate organiza- tion in the city, will be found below:

CHADDOCK COLLEGE.

This institution, formerly known as Quincy College, was founded in 1856. For years a heavy debt embarrassed the College, and after several efforts to liquidate it; which proved sad failures, the people generally lost confidence and settled into a seeming indifference. Rev. E. W. Hall being elected President, three and one half years ago, found the trustees without a title to the property, the title being in special trustees to secure a debt of some $7,000, with several trust deeds to be subsequently satisfied, amount- ing in all to $14,000 when paid.

An opportunity presenting to sell the old property, Ex-Gov. Wood's palatial residence, erected at a cost of $200,000, was purchased in Deceni- ber, 1875, by the Methodist Society, against strong opposition by a faction of the trustees. In the face of predicted failure, bitter opposition and slan- ders, the friends have quietly and perseveringly held on until the heavy debt of $27,000 on the property has been entirely liquidated, and this mag- nificent building and grounds, the finest in the West, stand as a monument to the faithfulness of the few who would not abandon the enterprise. All this has not been accomplished without sacrifice, and it is due this commu- nity to know that President Hall carried the heaviest part of the burden. Coming here on a stipulated salary of $2,000 per year, he received on salary in the aggregate less than $1,000, for the whole three and one-half years which he served as President, when his talents were in demand elsewhere. Rev. Peter Wallace was untiring in his labors, sparing no time and energy in advancing the interests of the College. Rodney Lambert, C. F. Weller and others, trustees of long standing, stood up like Spartans against oppo- sition, now with a property paid for and the financial management of the College, recently twice investigated by invitation of the trustees and by the authority of the Methodist Church and twice vindicated. After so much sacrifice on the part of those who have saved the College, it behooves all to talk, work for and patronize the institution, and Adams county will soon have a college that will do honor to the "Gem City of the West." It is the intention to open it in September, under the direction of the Wesleyan

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HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY.

University, of Bloomington, whence a corps of instructors is expected. The building and grounds are superbly beautiful.

ST. FRANCIS SOLANUS COLLEGE.

This institution was organized in 1858, by the St. Franciscan Fathers, who subsequently erected a small building on what was known as "The Prairie," on the block bounded by Vine, Elm, Eighteenth and Twentieth streets, at a cost of $12,000, and started the school, its objects being to supply deficiencies of common school education, and to prepare young men for mercantile pursuits and for a professional life for which a classical course is necessary. The college, through the perseverance of those in charge, attracted liberal patronage. Its growth was rapid, and in 1870 it was found necessary to provide better accommodations. A handsome edi- fice, 70 x 90 feet, four stories in height, with a basement, was erected, at a cost of $32,000. The college was removed to the new building the latter part of the same year. The basement is occupied with billiard tables and a gymnasium, which are used for the pleasure of the students. On the first floor there are three rooms, besides the large dining hall. The study hall, with seats for 100 students, is on the second floor; also the class rooms and college library. On the third floor is the chapel, music room and pro- fessors' rooms. The infirmary, pharmacy and wardrobe are located on the fourth floor. After taking possession of the new building the institution made rapid progress, and it is now in a flourishing condition. There are three departments in the college adapted to the wants of young men-the preparatory, the commercial, and the classical. The course of instruction in each is thorough, and will compare favorably with the oldest and best educational institutions of the country. On its catalogue are young men from various cities of the Western States, in addition to a number of the young men of Quincy. Rev. Anselmus Mueller is president, and is assisted in conducting the institution by ten of the Franciscan Brothers and several lav teachers. The society has purchased the entire block bounded by Nineteenth, Twentieth, Vine and Elm streets.

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The history of Adams County Illinois : containing a history of the county - its cities, towns, etc. a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion; general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, Part 140

Author: Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : Murray, Williamson & Phelps Number of Pages: 1254

Author:
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : Murray, Williamson & Phelps
Number of Pages: 1254